Lyra Constellation on Top Astronomer Lyra Please hover over any star to get more information Lyra is a constellation in the northern hemisphere. It was introduced by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. The constellation is associated with the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus, the great musician killed by the Bacchantes. Orpheus carried with him the first lyre ever made, invented by Hermes and given to him by the god Apollo. After Orpheus' death, Zeus dispatched an eagle to fetch the lyre from the river into which it had fallen and then turned both into constellations in the sky. The lyre became the constellation Lyra and the eagle became Aquila . The constellation is sometimes depicted as an eagle or a vulture carrying a lyre and was also once known as Aquila Cadens ("falling eagle") or Vultur Cadens ("falling vulture"). The constellation Lyra occupies an area of 286 square degrees and contains five stars with known planets. It can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40° and is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of August.

The brightest star in Lyra is [5350] alpha Lyrae, better known as Vega, the second brightest star in the northern hemisphere and fifth brightest star in the sky. Lying only about 25 light-years away, Vega was the first star outside our solar system to have its photograph taken. Its name derives from the Arabic phrase "al-nasr al-waqi," which means either "the swooping eagle" or "the swooping vulture." Along with stars [435] Altair in Aquila and [3067] Deneb in Cygnus , Vega forms the Summer Triangle, an asterism that can be seen overhead in mid-northern latitudes in the summer. Around the year 12,000 BC, Vega was the polar star. In northern Polynesia, it was known as "whetu o te tau," or "the year star" because at one point it marked the beginning of a new year.

Assyrians called the star the "Judge of Heaven," while the Akkadian name for it was Tir-ana, or "Life of Heaven." To ancient Babylonian astronomers, Vega represented one of the "Messengers of Light." The Chinese identify the star with Zhi Nu, a fairy separated from her mortal husband and children. The Japanese, who call the star Orihime, have a similar legend. [5352] beta Lyrae or Sheliak ("harp") is a binary star composed of two B-type stars that are so close together that it is impossible to resolve them with an optical telescope. It is a variable star that serves as the prototype for the Beta Lyrae group of stars. [5351] gamma Lyrae, also known as Sulafat ("tortoise") and Jugum ("yoke"), is a multiple star system lying approximately 635 light-years from Earth. The main component is a B-type bright giant, with luminosity about 2,100 times that of the Sun.

[5362] - [5364] epsilon Lyrae, also known as The Double Double, is a quadruple star system, with two binary stars orbiting each other. Epsilon Lyrae is about 162 light-years distant from Earth. It can be spotted with the naked eye. Another star that serves as a prototype for an entire group of stars is RR Lyrae, a variable star that varies in brightness between magnitudes 7 and 8 within a period of about 13 hours. The constellation is home to several notable deep sky objects. Messier 56 (NGC 6779) is a globular cluster 84 light-years across in size, lying approximately 32,900 light-years from Earth. Messier 57 (NGC 6720) or the Ring Nebula, is a bipolar planetary nebula formed by a shell of gas expelled by a dying star, located between [5352] beta and [5351] gamma Lyrae. Gliese 747AB is a red dwarf lying near [5366] 17 Lyrae.

It is also known as Kuiper 90 or 17 Lyrae C. It was previously believed to be a part of the 17 Lyrae system. Lyra Constellation - Facts About Lyra | Solarsystemquick.com Lyra Constellation Lyra is one of the smallest constellations but contains one of the brightest stars. Lyra Constellation Facts Lyra is visible in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In the Northern hemisphere the constellation can be seen from April to December. In the Southern hemisphere Lyra can be viewed low on the northern horizon in the winter months. The brightest star in this small constellation is Vega, which is also the fifth brightest star in the night sky. Vega is also part of the 'Summer Triangle' asterism, along with the stars Deneb and Altair. The Summer Triangle is formed by the brightest stars in each of the constellations of Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila. An asterism is a group of stars which form a pattern in the night sky but is not a constellation in itself. The beautiful Ring Nebula can be found within the Lyra constellation, between the stars of Sulafet and Sheliak.

The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula, these form when stars similar in size to our own sun shed their mass at the end of their lifespan. Lyra Mythology Lyra is Latin for lyre, a type of ancient instrument similar to a harp. The constellation of Lyra is associated with Greek mythology and based around the character of Orpheus, a famed musician with such extraordinary talent that he was even able to charm nature itself with his music. Orpheus married the beautiful Eurydice, the daughter of the god of the sun Apollo. He was blissful in his marriage until one day Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake and later died from her injury. Orpheus was so devastated by her death he decided to descend into the underworld in an attempt to claim her back. Once there Orpheus charmed the gods of the underworld with his music who granted his wish to be reunited with his wife, with one condition, Orpheus was not allowed to look at Eurydice until they had left the underworld. Unfortunately Orpheus looked back at the following Eurydice before they reached Earth and she descended back from where she came.

The heartbroken Orpheus took his own life to become reunited with his wife, upon his death his lyre was placed amongst the stars by Zeus. Main Stars in the Lyra Constellation The number next to each star is its apparent magnitude, its brightness from our point of view on Earth, the lower the number the brighter the star in the night sky. Vega Also known as Alpha Lyrae, like our sun Vega is a main sequence star but with surface temperatures almost twice as hot, this bluish-white star which lies around 25 light years from Earth is not only the brightest in the constellation but one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Vega has around twice the mass of the sun and is a around two and half times as large in diameter, the star is surrounded by a large disc of debris and is possibly orbited by a large Jupiter size planet.

Sheliak Also known as Beta Lyrae, Sheliak is a binary star system around 1,000 light years from Earth, the larger of the two stars has a mass around 13 times that of the sun and is around 30 times larger in diameter, with surface temperatures around 6 times that of the sun the larger star of the pair is around 25,000 times as luminous. Sulafet Also known as Gamma Lyrae, Sulafet is a blue giant star around 600 light years from Earth, it is around 15 times larger than the sun in diameter with surface temperatures around twice as hot. Finding Lyra - Northern Hemisphere The chart shows the position of Lyra over most of the United States in early-summer at midnight. This chart can also be applied to other areas of the Northern hemisphere such as Canada, the UK and Europe. From April to May Lyra will appear low on the horizon in the north-east around 11pm gradually moving higher in the sky before day breaks. From June to July the constellation will appear in the east around 10 pm gradually moving higher until it is directly over head.

From August to September Lyra will appear overhead around 10 pm, slowly dipping towards the horizon in the north-west over the next few hours. From October to December it will be visible high in the western sky between 6 and 7 pm before disappearing below the horizon several hours later. Finding Lyra - Southern Hemisphere The chart shows the position of Lyra over most of Australia in mid-winter at 11 pm. This chart can also be applied to other areas of the Southern hemisphere such as New Zealand, South Africa and South America. Throughout July to August Lyra will appear low on the northern horizon between the hours of 8 pm to 11 pm, rising later in early winter and earlier in late winter, the constellation will stay low on the horizon moving westward for around 5 hours before dipping below the horizon. Share this page Brilliant Star Vega Lights Up July Nights Brilliant Star Vega Lights Up July Nights By Joe Rao, SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist | July 22, 2011 05:05pm ET MORE Look directly overhead to find the star Vega in the constellation Lyra. North is at the top of this sky map.

Credit: Starry Night Software Standing almost directly overhead around midnight on July nights is the brilliant bluish-white star, Vega, in the constellation of Lyra, the Harp. It's the fifth brightest star in the entire sky and the third brightest visible from mid-northern latitudes, behind Sirius and Arcturus. Also, as seen from mid-northern latitudes such as New York or Madrid, Vega goes below the horizon for only about seven hours a day, meaning that you can see it on any night of the year. The sky map of Vega here shows how the star appears in relation to constellations and other stars. Farther south, Vega is below the horizon for an even longer interval of time. Conversely, for Alaska, central and northern Canada, as well as central and northern Europe, Vega never sets and is readily visible on any night of the year. Popular misconception As a young boy I used to spend my summers at Long Island's Atlantic Beach.

On clear nights, my Uncle Bob would point to Vega and tell me that it was "the North Star, the brightest star in the sky." Of course, he was wrong: the North Star is Polaris at the end of the tail of Ursa Minor, the Little Bear. Even today the idea that the North Star is the brightest star in the sky continues to be a popular misconception. [ Stunning Daily Photos of Stars and Galaxies ] Vega is the brightest of the three stars forming the large " Summer Triangle " consisting of Vega, Altair and Deneb. It is located 25 light-years away, has a diameter approximately three times that of our sun and is 58 times more luminous. In January 2002, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., announced that features observed in a cloud of dust swirling around Vega may in fact, be the signatures of an unseen planet in an eccentric orbit around the star. Getting the name wrong Observations of Vega in 1983 with the Infrared Astronomy Satellite provided the first evidence for large dust particles around another star , probably debris related to the formation of planets.

This discovery likely inspired Carl Sagan to place a planet orbiting Vega in his novel "Contact." "Contact" was also made into a 1997 American film, directed by Robert Zemeckis. I personally enjoyed it for the most part, except for one thing; the mispronunciation of Vega. [ What Makes an Alien Encounter Movie Believable? ] Vega is correctly pronounced "Vee-ga." But between 1971 and 1977, the Chevrolet division of General Motors produced a lightweight four-cylinder automobile that was christened after Vega. The car's name was marketed as being pronounced "Vay-ga." For years thereafter, whenever I gave planetarium shows or lectured under the real sky, I would remind my audience that Vee-ga was a star, but Vay-ga was a car. Unfortunately, it appears that the latter pronunciation carried-over two decades later into the production of the film "Contact." Today I tell people that if the film's protagonist, Dr.

Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway was a real person, then as an astronomer she would have referred to the strong extraterrestrial signal as emanating from the star Vee-ga and not from the car Vay-ga. But then, that's Hollywood. Vega also holds a rather unique place in the annals of astronomy as being the first star ever to be photographed. The historic photograph was made using the daguerreotype process at Harvard Observatory on the night of July 16-17, 1850. A 15-inch refractor was used, but nonetheless it still took an exposure of 100 seconds for Vega's image to register. The lyre Officially, Lyra is a lyre — a stringed instrument of the harp family used to accompany a singer or reader of poetry, especially in ancient Greece. In Greek mythology, Lyra was associated with the myth of Orpheus, the musician who was killed by the Bacchantes. After his death, his lyre was thrown into the river. Zeus sent an eagle to retrieve the lyre, and ordered both of them to be placed in the sky.

This is why Lyra is often represented on star maps as a vulture or an eagle carrying a lyre, either enclosed in its wings, or in its beak. Six stars form a combined geometric pattern of a parallelogram and an equal-sided triangle attached at its northern corner. Vega gleams at the western point of the triangle. In his classic book, "The Stars — A New Way to See Them," author H.A. Rey commented that Lyra better resembled a two-stringed zither than a traditional lyre. But there are other interesting sights to explore here. Epsilon Lyrae, at the northern point of the little triangle where Vega is located, is known as the "double-double" star. Good eyesight reveals Epsilon is really a close pair of stars. Binoculars readily separate the two, while a moderately large telescope shows each one divided again into two stars. [ Telescopes for Beginners ] The star Sheliak is one of the two that forms the southern side of the parallelogram and appears to diminish by half of its normal brightness about every 13 days when it's eclipsed by a darker companion star.

Between this winking star and its neighbor, Sulafat is the famous Ring Nebula, faintly glowing like a ghostly doughnut or a cosmic smoke ring. Visible only in large telescopes, it appears as an oval ring around a star. Millions of years ago, this star exploded, hurling out great masses of gas. We see the star now through the thin part of this gaseous envelope. One final point. Thanks to precession, the wobbling motion of the earth's axis, in 12,000 years, our north polar axis will be pointing in the general direction of Vega and it will indeed officially become the North Star. My Uncle Bob passed away in 2009, but I'm sure that piece of news would have made him very happy. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York.

Lyra Constellation: Facts, Myth, Stars, Deep Sky Objects, Pictures | Constellation Guide Constellation Guide Constellations: A Guide to the Night Sky Lyra Constellation Lyra constellation lies in the northern sky. It represents the lyre, a musical instrument with strings used in antiquity and later times. The constellation is associated with the myth of the Greek musician and poet Orpheus. It was first catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. Lyra contains Vega , the fifth brightest star in the sky and second brightest star in the northern hemisphere, and the famous variable star RR Lyrae. It is also home to several notable deep sky objects, including the globular cluster Messier 56 , the planetary nebula Messier 57 (the Ring Nebula ), the merging triplet of galaxies NGC 6745, and the open cluster NGC 6791. FACTS, LOCATION & MAP Lyra Constellation Map, by IAU and Sky&Telescope magazine Lyra is a small constellation, 52nd in size, occupying an area of 286 square degrees.

It is located in the fourth quadrant of the northern hemisphere (NQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -40°. The neighboring constellations are Cygnus , Draco , Hercules and Vulpecula . Lyra contains two Messier objects – Messier 56 (M56, NGC 6779) and Messier 57 (M57, NGC 6720, the Ring Nebula) – and has nine stars with known planets. The brightest star in the constellation is Vega, Alpha Lyrae , which is also the fifth brightest star in the sky, with an apparent visual magnitude of 0.03. There are three meteor showers associated with the constellation: the Lyrids , which peak around April 21-22 every year, the June Lyrids and the Alpha Lyrids.

Lyra belongs to the Hercules family of constellations, along with Aquila , Ara , Centaurus , Corona Australis , Corvus , Crater , Crux , Cygnus , Hercules , Hydra , Lupus , Ophiuchus , Sagitta , Scutum , Sextans , Serpens , Triangulum Australe and Vulpecula . MYTH Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus, the musician and poet in Greek mythology who was killed by the Bacchantes. When he died, his lyre was thrown into a river. Zeus sent an eagle to get the lyre and placed both of them in the sky. Orpheus was the son of the Thracian King Oeagrus and the muse Calliope. When he was young, god Apollo gave him a golden lyre and taught him to play it, and his mother taught him to write verses. Orpheus was known for his ability to charm even stones with his music, for his attempts to save his wife Eurydice from the underworld, and for being the harpist and companion of Jason and the Argonauts.

Without Orpheus and his music, the Argonauts would not have been able to make it past the Sirens, whose song enticed sailors to come to them, which usually resulted in sailors crashing their ships into the islands on which the Sirens lived. When the Argonauts approached the islands, Orpheus drew his lyre and played music that drowned out the Sirens’ calls. The most famous story involving Orpheus is that of the death of his wife Eurydice. Eurydice was trying to escape a satyr at her wedding, and fell into a nest of vipers. She was bitten on the heel and died. Orpheus found the body and, deeply shaken, he played songs that made the gods and the nymphs cry. The gods felt pity for him and advised him to travel to the underworld and try to retrieve Eurydice. Orpheus took their advice. Once there, his song deeply moved Hades and his wife Persephone and they agreed to return Eurydice to the world of the living on one condition: Orpheus should walk in front of her and not look back until they both had reached the upper world.

Orpheus and Eurydice started walking and, as much as he wanted to, he did not look back. However, he forgot that they both had to arrive to the upper world before he could turn. As soon as he reached it, he turned around, but Eurydice was not quite up there yet and she disappeared from his sight, for good this time. Orpheus found his death at the hands of Thracian Maenads, who ripped him to shreds for not honouring Dionysus. His lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, who also collected the fragments of his body and buried them below Mount Olympus. Lyra constellation was often depicted as a vulture or an eagle carrying Orpheus’ lyre in its wings or beak, and called Aquila Cadens or Vultur Cadens, which means “the falling eagle” or “falling vulture.” In Wales, the constellation is known as King Arthur’s Harp (Talyn Arthur) or King David’s Harp. MAJOR STARS IN LYRA Vega, Alpha Lyrae, image: Roberto Mura Vega – α Lyrae (Alpha Lyrae) Vega is the brightest star in the Lyra constellation.

With an apparent visual magnitude of 0.03, it is also the fifth brightest star in the night sky, after Sirius in Canis Major , Canopus in Carina , Arcturus in Boötes , and Alpha Centauri A in Centaurus constellation . Vega is also the second brightest star in the northern sky; only Arcturus is brighter. The star is 25.04 light years distant from Earth. Vega was the first star other than the Sun to be photographed and the first one to have its spectrum recorded. It was first imaged by William Bond and John Adams Whipple at the Harvard College Observatory on July 17, 1850, and it was the American amateur astronomer Henry Draper who took the first photograph of Vega’s spectrum in August 1872. The star belongs to the spectral class A0V, which makes it a white dwarf. It was the northern pole star around the year 12,000 BC and will be again around the year 13,727.

The Summer Triangle – Vega, Altair, Deneb Vega is 2.1 times as massive as the Sun, and only about a tenth of the Sun’s age. It is believed to be about 455 million years old, which is about a half of its life expectancy. It is a suspected variable star and a rapid rotator, with a projected rotational velocity of 274 km/s at the equator. The star is believed to have a circumstellar disk of dust, as it emits excess infrared radiation. It may have at least one planet the size of Jupiter in its orbit. Vega is easy to find in the night sky because it is bright and also because it is part of a familiar summer asterism, the Summer Triangle , which it forms with the stars Altair in the constellation Aquila and Deneb in Cygnus . Vega is located at the vertex of the triangle, and easy to find because the constellation Cygnus, the Swan , is easily recognizable in the sky. Sulafat – γ Lyrae (Gamma Lyrae) Gamma Lyrae is the second brightest star in the constellation.

It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.261 and is approximately 620 light years distant from the Sun. The star is a blue-white giant. It belongs to the spectral class B9 III. Gamma Lyrae is sometimes known by its traditional names, Sulafat (Sulaphat) and Jugum. The name Sulafat is derived from the Arabic al-sulḥafāt, which means “the turtle,” and Jugum comes from the Latin word iugum, meaning “yoke.” The star has a radius 15 times that of the Sun. It is a relatively fast rotator, with a projected rotational velocity of 71-72 km/s. Sheliak –β Lyrae (Beta Lyrae) Beta Lyrae is a double star system. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 3.52 and is approximately 960 light years distant from Earth. It has the traditional name Sheliak, derived from šiliyāq, which is the Arabic name for the constellation. The Beta Lyrae system has a variable luminosity, ranging from 3.4 to 4.3 magnitudes.

The variability was first discovered by the British astronomer John Goodricke in 1784. The components are so close together that they form a spectroscopic binary star, one that cannot be resolved into individual components with optical telescopes.The two orbit each other with a period of 12.9414 days and periodically eclipse each other. As a result, their apparent magnitude varies. The primary star has the stellar classification of B7II – it is a blue-white bright giant. The secondary component is also believed to be a class B star. The system is a semidetached binary, one in which one of the stars fills the binary star’s Roche lobe, and the other star does not. Gas from the surface of the donor star is transferred to the accreting star, and the transfer of mass dominates the system’s evolution. The B7II star, now the less massive component, was once the more massive component in the system. As is evolved into a giant, it transferred most of its mass to the other star, as the two are in close orbit. As a result, the other star is now surrounded by an accretion disk, one that makes it difficult to pinpoint the star’s exact stellar type.

R Lyrae and Vega. Image: Kevin Heider, NASA, ESA. Credit: A. Fujii R Lyrae R Lyrae is a red giant with the stellar classification of M5III. It is a semiregular pulsating star with an apparent magnitude that varies between 3.9 and 5.0. The star is approximately 350 light years distant from the solar system. It is significantly brighter and larger, yet also cooler than the Sun. δ Lyrae (Delta Lyrae) Delta Lyrae consists of a star and a star system sharing the same Bayer designation. Delta-1 Lyrae is a binary star system with an orbital period of about 88 days. The components have apparent magnitudes of 5.569 and 9.8. The separation between the two stars is very small and they form a spectroscopic binary. The system is approximately 1,100 light years distant from the Sun. The primary star is a blue-white dwarf with the stellar classification of B2.5 V. It is twice as hot and much brighter than the Sun.

The companion is an orange giant of the spectral type K2III, which makes it brighter and larger, yet cooler than the Sun. Delta-2 Lyrae is a red bright giant with the stellar classification M4 II. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.30 and is approximately 740 light years distant. It is 6,500 times more luminous than the Sun and has a radius 200 times solar. The star is believed to be 75 million years old. The Double Double, Epsilon Lyrae. Image: Robert Mura The Double Double – ε Lyrae (Epsilon Lyrae) Epsilon Lyrae, popularly known as the Double Double, is a multiple star system about 162 light years away. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.7. In binoculars, the systems appears as two stars, each of which can be resolved into a binary when observed through a telescope. The two main components, the binary stars, orbit each other. Epsilon-1 Lyrae, the northern component in the system, is a double star consisting of components that are only 2.35 arcseconds apart.

The stars have apparent magnitudes of 4.7 and 6.2 and an orbital period of about 1,200 years. The stars of Epsilon-2 Lyrae are separated by 2.3 arcseconds and have magnitudes of 5.1 and 5.5. Their orbital period is about half that of the Epsilon-1 stars. Epsilon Lyrae has a fifth component, discovered in 1985. The star orbits the Epsilon-2 pair with an estimated period of a few decades. RR Lyrae RR Lyrae is a well known variable star in Lyra constellation, located near the border with Cygnus . The star serves as a prototype of an entire class of stars, known as the RR Lyrae variables. These are periodic variable stars usually found in globular clusters and frequently used to measure galactic distances, as the relationship between their pulsation period and absolute magnitude makes them excellent standard candles. RR Lyrae variables are pulsating horizontal brach stars belonging to the spectral class A (and much less frequently F), with about half the Sun’s mass. They are believed to have been similar to the Sun at some point, but then shed their mass.

They are old, metal-poor stars with an average absolute magnitude of 0.75, and only 40 to 50 times more luminous than the Sun. RR Lyrae is the brightest star in this class, with an apparent magnitude ranging from 7.06 to 8.12. The star has a mean apparent magnitude of 7.195 and is approximately 860 light years distant from the Sun. RR Lyrae has evolved from the main sequence, passed through the red giant stage and is now in the horizontal branch (HB) stage of evolution, powered by helium fusion in its core and hydrogen fusion in the shell surrounding the core. RR Lyrae’s variability was first discovered by the Scottish astronomer Williamina Fleming in 1901. The star shows a regular pattern of pulsation over a short period of 0.56686776 days, or 13 hours and 36 minutes. Each such radial pulsation causes the star’s radius to vary from 5.1 to 5.6 times the solar radius.

DM Lyrae DM Lyrae is a dwarf nova, a cataclysmic variable star composed of a close binary system in which one of the stars is a white dwarf that accretes matter from the companion star. As a result, the white dwarf is involved in periodic outbursts, presumably as a result of the instability in the accretion disk. The primary component in the DM Lyrae system is of unknown type. The system usually has an apparent visual magnitude of 18, but during outbursts the magnitude reaches 13.6. Two such outbursts were observed in the last century, one in 1928 and another in July 1996. The most recent one, in 1996, was a very long and bright one, indicating that the star is a variable of the SU Ursae Majoris type, one that has super-outbursts in addition to normal outbursts. κ Lyrae (Kappa Lyrae) Kappa Lyrae is an orange giant with the stellar classification of K2III. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 4.323 and is approximately 238 light years distant from the solar system.

It is classified as a variable star. Alathfar – μ Lyrae (Mu Lyrae) Mu Lyrae is a white subgiant star belonging to the spectral class A3IVn. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 5.12 and is approximately 439 light years distant from Earth. The star’s traditional name, Alathfar (or Al Athfar), comes from the Arabic al-’uz̧fur, which means “the talons (of the swooping eagle.” It shares the name with Eta Lyrae, but the latter is usually spelled Aladfar. Mu Lyrae lies 2.5 degrees west-northwest of Vega. Gliese 758 Gliese 758 is a yellow dwarf with the stellar classification of G8V. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 6.36 and is 51.4 light years distant from the Sun. It can easily be seen in binoculars. The star is similar to the Sun. It has 97 percent of the Sun’s mass, and 51 percent higher metallicity, i.e. abundance of elements other than hydrogen and helium.

A substellar companion, Gliese 758 b, was discovered in the star’s orbit in November 2009. It has between 30 and 40 Jupiter masses. Kuiper 90 (17 Lyrae C, Gliese 747AB) Gliese 747AB is a nearby star system composed of two red dwarf stars of the spectral types M3 and M5. The system is 26.5 light years distant from the Sun. The two stars orbit each other at a small angular separation (0.35”) with a period of 5 years. DEEP SKY OBJECTS IN LYRA Messier 56 by Hubble Space Telescope Messier 56 (M56, NGC 6779) Messier 56 is a globular cluster in Lyra constellation. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.3 and is approximately 32,900 light years distant from the solar system. The cluster is about 84 light years across. It was discovered by Charles Messier on January 19, 1779.

M56 lies halfway between the stars Albireo (Beta Cygni) in Cygnus constellation and Sulafat, Gamma Lyrae. It appears as a fuzzy star in larger binoculars, but can be resolved with an 8 inch telescope. M56 is believed to be about 13.70 billion years old. The brightest stars in it are 13th magnitude, and it contains about a dozen variables. The planetary nebula Messier 57, also known as the Ring Nebula, in the constellation Lyra. Image: Hubble Heritage Team The Ring Nebula – Messier 57 (M57, NGC 6720) The Ring Nebula , Messier 57, is a famous planetary nebula in Lyra constellation, located south of the bright star Vega, about 40% of the distance from Beta to Gamma Lyrae. It is relatively easy to find and is a popular target among amateur astronomers. The nebula was formed when a shell of ionized gas was expelled by a red giant star that was in the process of becoming a white dwarf. It is expanding at the rate of about 1 arcsecond per century.

The central planetary nebula nucleus (PNN) was discovered by the Hungarian astronomer Jenő Gothard on September 1, 1886. The Ring Nebula belongs to the class of planetary nebulae known as bipolar nebulae. It has a thick equatorial ring that noticeably extends the structure through its main axis of symmetry. The nebula has an apparent visual magnitude of 8.8 and is approximately 2,300 light years distant. It was discovered by the French astrononer Antoine Darquier de Pellepoix in January 1779, and Charles Messier discovered it independently later the same month, and included it in his catalogue as the 57th object. NGC 6791, image: NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey, and L. Bedin (STScI) NGC 6791 NGC 6791 is an open cluster in Lyra. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 9.5 and is approximately 13,300 light years distant from the solar system. The cluster was discovered by the German astronomer Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke in 1853.

It is believed to be around 8 billion years old. It is one of the oldest and most metal-rich clusters known in the Milky Way. NGC 6745 – A large spiral galaxy, with its nucleus still intact, peers at the smaller passing galaxy (nearly out of the field of view at lower right), while a bright blue beak and bright whitish-blue top feathers show the distinct path taken during the smaller galaxy’s journey. These galaxies did not merely interact gravitationally as they passed one another, they actually collided. When galaxies collide, the stars that normally comprise the major portion of the luminous mass of each of the two galaxies will almost never collide with each other, but will pass rather freely between each other with little damage. Wherever the interstellar clouds of the two galaxies collide, they do not freely move past each other without interruption but, rather, suffer a damaging collision. High relative velocities cause ram pressures at the surface of contact between the interacting interstellar clouds. This pressure, in turn, produces material densities sufficiently extreme as to trigger star formation through gravitational collapse. The hot blue stars in this image are evidence of this star formation.

Image: Hubble Heritage Team NGC 6745 NGC 6745 is an irregular galaxy in Lyra constellation, believed to be around 10 billion years old. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 13.3 and is approximately 206 million light years distant from the Sun. NGC 6745 is really a triplet of galaxies that have been colliding and merging for hundreds of millions of years. The larger galaxy, NGC 6745A, is believed to have been a spiral galaxy before the collision, but now appears peculiar as a result of the encounter. The smaller galaxy, NGC 6745B, has passed through the larger one and is now moving away from it. The smaller galaxy is believed to have lost most of its interstellar medium to the larger one in the collision. IC 1296 IC 1296 is a barred spiral galaxy in Lyra constellation. It has an apparent visual magnitude of 14.8 and is approximately 221 million light years distant from Earth. The galaxy lies 4′ to the north-west of the Ring Nebula .

Astronomy Vega is the Harp Star | Brightest Stars | EarthSky Vega is the Harp Star By Larry Sessions in Brightest Stars | July 20, 2016 One of the prettiest stories in all skylore surrounds this star. “On the 7th night of the 7th moon … “ Image via Fred Espenak . Used with permission. The beautiful blue-white star Vega has a special place in the hearts of many skywatchers. Come to know it, and you will see. Follow the links below to learn more. Vega science How to see Vega. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere can see the star Vega come into view in the northeast in mid-evening in May. Look for this star in the very early evening in June – high overhead on autumn evenings – in the northwestern quadrant of the sky on December evenings. The constellation Lyra the Harp and its brightest star Vega Vega is easily recognizable for its brilliance and blue-white color. You can also easily pick out its constellation Lyra, which is small and compact, and consists primarily of Vega and four fainter stars in the form of a parallelogram. The little constellation Lyra has some interesting features.

Near Vega is Epsilon Lyrae, the famed “double-double” star. Between the Gamma and Beta stars is the famous Ring Nebula, visible in small telescopes. Vega is one of three stars in an asterism – or noticeable star pattern – called the Summer Triangle to the early evening sky. The other two stars in the Triangle are Deneb and Altair . You can see the Summer Triangle in the evening beginning around June, through the end of each year. Tanabata and her lover meet on a bridge of magpies across the Celestial River, each year on the 7th night of the 7th moon. Image via Anhellica/Lilliacerise’s blog Here are the stars depicted in the illustration above, from Matthew Chin in Yuen Long, Hong Kong. He wrote: “Happy Chinese Valentine’s Day: the Qixi Festival .” This festival in China is August 9 in 2016, August 28 in 2017 and August 17 in 2018. Vega in history and myth. In western skylore, Vega’s constellation Lyra is said to be the harp played by the legendary Greek musician Orpheus.

It’s said that when Orpheus played this harp, neither god nor moral could turn away. Vega is sometimes called the Harp Star. But the most beautiful story relating to Vega comes from Asia. There are many variations. In Japan, Vega is sometimes called Tanabata (or Orihime), a celestial princess or goddess. She falls in love with a mortal, Kengyu (or Hikoboshi), represented by the star Altair. But when Tanabata’s father finds out, he is enraged and forbids her to see this mere mortal. Thus the two lovers are placed in the sky, where they are separated by the Celestial River, known to us as Milky Way. Yet the sky gods are kind. Each year, on the 7th night of the 7th moon, a bridge of magpies forms across the Celestial River, and the two lovers are reunited. Sometimes Kengyu’s annual trip across the Celestial River is treacherous, though, and he doesn’t make it. In that case, Tanabata’s tears form raindrops that fall over Japan. Many Japanese celebrations of Tanabata are held in July, but sometimes they are held in August.

If it rains, the raindrops are thought to be Tanabata’s tears because Kengyu could not meet her. Sometimes the meteors of the Perseid shower are said to be Tanabata’s tears. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope recently captured this image of the star Vega, located 25 light years away in the constellation Lyra. Spitzer was able to detect the heat radiation from the cloud of dust around the star and found that the debris disc is much larger than previously thought. Image Credit: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Size of star Vega in contrast to our sun. Image via RJHall at Wikimedia Commons Vega science. Vega is the 5th brightest star visible from Earth, and the 3rd brightest easily visible from mid-northern latitudes, after Sirius and Arcturus. At about 25 light-years in distance, it is the 6th closest of all the bright stars, or 5th if you exclude Alpha Centauri, which is not easily visible from most of the Northern Hemisphere. Vega’s distinctly blue color indicates a surface temperature of nearly 17,000 degrees F, making it about 7,000 degrees hotter than our sun.

Roughly 2.5 times the diameter of the sun, and just less than that in mass, Vega’s internal pressures and temperatures are far greater than our sun, making it burn its fuel faster. This causes Vega to produce 35-40 times the energy of the sun, which in turn shortens its lifetime. At about 500 million years, Vega is already middle-aged. Currently it is only about a tenth the age of our sun, and will run out of fuel in another half-billion years. In astronomer-speak, Vega is an “A0V main sequence star.” The “A0” signifies its temperature, whereas the “V” is a measure of energy output (luminosity), indicating that Vega is a normal star (not a giant). “Main sequence” again testifies to the fact that it belongs in the category of normal stars, and that it produces energy through stable fusion of hydrogen into helium. With a visual magnitude (apparent brightness) of 0.03, Vega is only marginally dimmer than Arcturus, but with a distinctly different, cool-blue color.

Vega’s position is RA: 18h 36m 56.3s, dec: +38° 47′ 1.3″. Brightest Stars - YouTube Brightest Stars Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jan 25, 2015 Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus and the third brightest star in the night sky. The Alpha Centauri system is located 1.34 parsecs or 4 light years from the Sun, making it the closest star system to our Solar System. Although it appears to the unaided eye as a single object, Alpha Centauri is actually a binary star system (designated Alpha Centauri AB) whose combined visual magnitude is -0.27. Sirius is the brightest star system in the Earth's night sky. With a visual apparent magnitude of -1.46.

Sirius appears bright because of both its intrinsic luminosity and its proximity to Earth. At a distance of 2.6 parsecs or 8 light years the Sirius system is one of Earth's nearest neighbours. Arcturus of the constellation Boötes is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. With a visual magnitude of -0.04, it is the fourth brightest star in the night sky. It is a relatively close star at only 37 light-years from Earth. Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night sky. It is a relatively close star at only 25 light-years from Earth. Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. It is almost straight above Earth's north pole. Because of this, when it is seen from Earth, it looks like it always stays in the same place in the sky. It is part of a triple star system and it has a very close dwarf binary, and a larger star, Polaris B, which orbits 2,200 AU away.

Category How to Find Vega, a Scintillating Star in a Cosmic Harp How to Find Vega, a Scintillating Star in a Cosmic Harp By Joe Rao, Space.com's Skywatching Columnist Pin it Share To find the star Vega in the constellation Lyra, look directly overhead. North lies at the top of the sky map. More Shining almost directly overhead as darkness falls these days is the brilliant bluish-white star Vega, in the constellation of Lyra, the Harp. Vega is the fifth-brightest star in the night sky , and the third-brightest visible from midnorthern latitudes, trailing just Sirius and Arcturus. Also, as seen from midnorthern latitudes such as New York or Madrid, Vega goes below the horizon for only about seven hours a day, meaning you can see it on any night of the year. As viewed from farther south, Vega — the brightest of the three stars forming the large “Summer Triangle” consisting of Vega, Altair and Deneb — lies below the horizon for a longer interval of time. Conversely, for Alaska, central and northern Canada and central and northern Europe, Vega never sets and is readily visible on any night of the year.

[ Stunning Night Sky Photos for September 2014 ] Vega is located 25 light-years away, has a diameter approximately three times that of our sun and is 58 times more luminous. In January 2002, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced that features observed in a cloud of dust swirling around Vega may be the signatures of an unseen exoplanet in an eccentric orbit around the star. And observations of Vega in 1983 with the Infrared Astronomy Satellite provided the first evidence for large dust particles around another star, probably debris related to the formation of planets. This discovery likely inspired Carl Saganto place a planetorbiting Vega in his famous novel "Contact." Vega also was the first star ever to be photographed. The historic photograph was made using the daguerreotype process at Harvard Observatory overnight on July 16-17, 1850. A 15-inch refractor was used, but nonetheless it still took an exposure of 100 seconds for Vega’s image to register. Vega's constellation, Lyra, was supposed to represent Apollo’s harp.

Officially, Lyra is a lyre — a stringed instrument of the harp family used to accompany a singer or reader of poetry, especially in ancient Greece. Six stars form a combined geometric pattern of a parallelogram and an equal-sided triangle attached at its northern corner. Vega gleams at the western point of the triangle. But there are other interesting sights to explore here as well. Epsilon Lyrae, at the northern point of the little triangle where Vega is located, is known as the "double-double" star. Those with good eyesight discover that Epsilon is really a close pair of stars. Binoculars readily separate the two, while a moderately large telescope shows each one divided again into two stars. The star Sheliak is one of the two that forms the southern side of the parallelogram; it appears to diminish by half its normal brightness about every 13 days when it’s eclipsed by a darker companion star. Between this winking star and its neighbor, Sulafat, is the famous Ring Nebula, faintly glowing like a ghostly doughnut or a cosmic smoke ring. Visible only in large telescopes, the nebula appears as an oval ring around a star.

Millions of years ago, this star exploded, hurling out great masses of gas. We see the star now through the thin part of this gaseous envelope. Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo of any night sky sight and would like to share it with Space.com for a potential story or image gallery, send images and comments in to managing editor Tariq Malik at: spacephotos@space.com . Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y. Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com. Bright star Vega on May evenings | Tonight | EarthSky Bright star Vega on May evenings By Deborah Byrd in Tonight | May 11, 2016 Moon, Mercury before sunrise January 25 Tonight, look for the star Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, you’ll find this beautiful bluish star easily, simply by looking northeastward at mid-evening in May. Try it!

Just look northeast in mid-evening in May. You’ll see this bright bluish star shining above that horizon. From far south in the Southern Hemisphere, you can’t see this star until late at night in May because Vega is located so far north on the sky’s dome. Vega will reach its high point for the night around 3 to 4 hours after midnight, at which time people in the Southern Hemisphere can see this star in the northern sky. As seen from mid-northern latitudes, the star shines high overhead at this early morning hour. Because it’s the brightest star in the constellation Lyra the Harp , Vega is sometimes called the Harp Star. Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today! The constellation Lyra the Harp, with its brightest star Vega and other interesting stars or objects within its boundaries. Vega is a lovely star to come to know. When I was first learning the night sky, nearly 40 years ago, I spent hours, days, weeks, months poring over charts and books. So I sometimes came to know the names and whereabouts of certain stars before seeing them in the night sky. One soft May evening, I happened to glance toward the northeast.

I was thrilled at the sight of Vega – gleaming, sapphire-blue – and surprisingly bright for being so low in the sky. Like all stars, Vega rises some four minutes earlier each day as Earth moves around the sun. So Vega will ornament our evening sky throughout the summer and fall. Although Vega is considered a late spring or summer star, it’s actually so far north on the sky’s dome that you can find it at some time during the night, nearly every night of the year at mid-northern latitudes. Bottom line: It’s easy to identify the star Vega in the constellation Lyra at this time of year. Just look northeast in the evening for a bright, bluish star above the northeastern horizon.

Question: Which star, the brightest in the constellation Lyra, is the fifth-brightest of all the stars visible in the night sky?
Answer: Vega